1930 – 2016
AUBURN — Yolande Couture Gagne, 85, of Auburn, went to heaven on Wednesday, Feb. 10, joining her husband of 64 years who passed on just last month.
She was born in Lewiston, the daughter of Edwidge Longchamps Couture and Florian Couture and graduated from St. Dom’s in 1949. On June 9, 1951, she married her high school sweetheart, Louis P. Gagne Jr., and they ventured to Connecticut and Long Island, N.Y.
Her early experience as bookkeeper for Bauer Hardware in Lewiston led to many positions in the accounting and insurance world, including Hartford Hospital and Stratos Engineering, before working for Air France in New York City — a position she was most proud of.
When the couple returned to Lewiston in 1967, she continued her career at St. Mary’s General Hospital, Liberty Mutual and later for Union Mutual (now Unum) when she moved to Cape Elizabeth.
Yolande loved everything about children — raising, caring for and teaching them, especially French. She thoroughly enjoyed being a nanny in her later years when she lived in Florida. She was also a passionate caregiver who volunteered as a hospice worker in Florida, pastoral care at Maine Medical Center and for the Foster Grandparents program in Portland.
Above all, she loved her family and was a proud and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Yolande’s strong French-Canadian heritage, her love of singing and her very strong Catholic faith are all part of the legacy she bestows on family and friends.
Yolande is survived by brothers, Gabriel Couture of Auburn and Robert Couture of Lewiston; sisters, Madeleine Marquis of Waterbury, Conn., Muguette Thompson of Lewiston and Rachel D’Auteuil of Lisbon; as well as her five children, Suzanne Roy (Ronald) of Mystic, Conn., Louis Philippe Gagne III of Westbrook, Michele Mann (Greg) of New Port Richey, Fla., Paul Gagne (Jami Bouley) of Portland and Anne Marie Ramos (Ray) of Lakeland, Fla. Survivors also include four grandchildren, Chantelle Kimball, Christopher Roy, Chelsea Gagne-Rogers and Clinton Grubb; two great-grandchildren, Emma and Katherine Kimball; and many nieces and nephews.
The family thanks the amazing staff of Clover Manor.
Online condolences and sharing of memories may be expressed at www.lynchbrothers.com.
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